Adam Lyth has been dropped from the England Test squad for the series against Pakistan and replaced by Alex Hales.
Lyth failed to impress during the 3-2 Ashes series win and the England coach Trevor Bayliss indicated he had sympathy with the Yorkshire left-hander while appreciating that the step-up had proved too daunting. “It’s a tough season to come in,” Bayliss said.
Hales, who has scored 886 runs at an average of 52 in Division One for Nottinghamshire this summer, now has a chance to establish himself as Alastair Cook’s opening partner.
Bayliss said: “One of the things is that no one out there is putting his hand up to say: ‘I am definitely the player to pick.’ There is a number of good players who have had OK seasons. But I don’t think there is anyone who has made five, six, seven hundreds.
“If someone can do that, you would be putting them in the team almost straight away. There’s a message, or an opportunity, there for county players over these coming months and next season that there are spots available and up for grabs.”
The England and Wales Cricket Board also confirmed the appointment of the former one-day captain Paul Collingwood and recently retired Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene in consultancy roles.
Jayawardene will work with the Test batsmen until the end of the first Test against Pakistan, while Collingwood returns to the set-up to work with the limited-overs group in the UAE and will also work at next year’s World Twenty20.
While Hales comes into the squad, an alternative plan is for Moeen Ali to open, allowing the attacking but expensive leg-spinner Adil Rashid to come in at No8 with four quicks retained.
Hales’ county colleague James Taylor, who won his last Test cap against South Africa in 2012, has also been included in the Test squad as well as the ODI squad.
The party leaves for the United Arab Emirates on 30 September to begin their tour with two two-day warm-up matches against Pakistan A in Sharjah before the three-Test series begins in Abu Dhabi on 13 October.
Four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals complete the tour, with squads for those assignments also set to be published, together with those involved with the Lions, who will be based in the UAE this winter, will also be named, allowing additional flexibility in terms of personnel.
England Test squad
Cook (capt), Hales, Bell, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler (wkt), Ali, Wood, Broad, Anderson, Finn, Rashid, Ansari, Taylor, Plunkett.
One-day squad Morgan (capt), Ali, Bairstow, Billings, Buttler, Finn, Hales, Rashid, Root, Roy, Taylor, Topley, Willey, Woakes, Wood.
T20 squad Morgan (capt), Ali, Billings, Buttler, Hales, Jordan, Parry, Rashid, Root, Roy, Topley, Vince, Willey, Woakes, Wood.
Tour itinerary
30 Sept: England arrive
5-6 Oct: Two-day game v Pakistan A (Sharjah CC)
8-9 Oct: Two-day game v Pakistan A (Sharjah CC)
13-17 Oct: First Test (ZCS, Abu Dhabi)
22-26 Oct: Second Test (Dubai Cricket Stadium)
1-5 Nov: Third Test (Sharjah CC)
8 Nov: One-day practice match (ZCS, Abu Dhabi)
11 Nov: First ODI d/n (ZCS, Abu Dhabi)
13 Nov: Second ODI d/n (ZCS, Abu Dhabi)
17 Nov: Third ODI d/n (Sharjah CC)
20 Nov: Fourth ODI d/n (Dubai Cricket Stadium)
23 Nov: T20 v UAE XI (ZCS, Abu Dhabi)
26 Nov: First T20 (Dubai Cricket Stadium)
27 Nov: Second T20 (Dubai Cricket Stadium)
30 Nov: Third T20 (Sharjah CC)
1 Dec: England depart UAE
